Strand oiler



June 24, 1958 s. WYNN 2,840,036

STRAND OILER Y Filed larch 5. 1954 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.2

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GEORGE WYNN ATTORNEY G. WYNN STRAND OILER June 24, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 5, 1954 FIG. 8

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INVENTOR. G EORGE WYNN ATWTO R N E Y.

United States Patent() STRAND OILER George Wynn, Coraopolis, Pa., assignor to Jones &

Laughlin Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., :1 corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 5, 1954, Serial No. 414,480

2 Claims. (Cl. 11's 2s4 This invention relates to apparatus for applying a thin film of oil to a strand of wire moving in an axial direction and is more particularly concerned with apparatus of such type which may be used with machines for manufacturing field fence.

Wire field fence is composed of wires called line wires, which are horizontal when the fence is erected, and wires called stay wires, which are positioned vertically when the fence is erected. These wires are knotted at their intersections to form the rectangular meshes which make up the fence. Field fence is commercially made on continuous machines known as looms which automatically wrap the stay wires around the continuous line wires at their int'ersections, so'forming the fence. Such machines form a number of these wraps or knots at a time and so are fed with as many individual line wires as are required for the particular size of fence being made and a plurality of stay wires. Both types of wires are fed continuously from reels into the field fence loom or machine. It is desirable to coat each stay wire with a thin film of oil as it enters the field fence loom to facilitate the wrapping or knotting of such wire about the line wires. However, the wires are not fed into the'field fencemachine at a constant rate. The field fence machine advances the woven fence the length of one mesh between successive knotting or wrappingoperations, and likewise feeds in stay wires between each knot-forming operation. During the actual forming of the knot the stay wire is momentarily at rest. Thus, the stay wires are fed into the machine intermittently, or in a series of jerks. Because of this intermittent feed, conventional methods of lubricating horizontally fed stay wires have not proved satisfactory.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide apparatus which effectively iubricates stay wires intermittently fed into a field fence machine. Other objects will appear in the course of the following description and explanation of my invention.

I have found that horizontally fed stay wires may be effectively lubricated if each such strand of wire supports a wire ring whichdips into a reservoir of lubricating oil. These rings must be maintained at a small angle of inclination with respect to the vertical plane in which the Wire travels and must be provided with means to prevent the ring being jerked upwardly every time a strand of wire. A present preferred embodiment of Figure 6 is a detail view of a counterweight as used in my apparatus.

" 15. When stay wire 4 is being fed into 100m 1, it is taut,

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the appa- Figure 7 is another view of such counterweight.

Figure 8 is a schematic plan view of a field fence loom including my invention, together with a conventional arrangement for feeding line wire and stay wire strands'into the machine.

Figure 9 is an end elevation of a portion of Figure 8j Field fence loom 1 is shown schematically only assuch machine in itself forms no part of myinvention. This machine 1 is fed with line Wires 22 and stay wires 4- 4.

Line wires 2-2 come fro-m spools or reels 5-5 and pass over pulleys 66 and 7-7 into loom 1. Stay wires 4- 4 come from spools or reels 9-9. Each stay wire 4 passes over an overhead pulley 10 and a second overhead pulley 11, then downwardly and under pulley 13 and pulley 15 into the looml. Pulleys 13 and 15 define the ends .of a more or less horizontal path by which stay wire 4 enters loom 1. Because of the intermittent feed of stay wire 4 to m 1 previously mentioned, the path of such a strand between pulleys 13 and 15 is not fixed, although it is confined to a vertical plane passing through pulleys 13 and but when it is not being advanced, it slacks.

'Beneaththe path of stay wires 4-4above described and intermediate pulleys 13-13 and 15-15 is positioned an oil reservoir 17 which may take the form of a rectangular tank open at the top. This tank has side walls 18--18, end walls 191l, and a bottom 20. Within this reservoir 17 are positioned a pair of vertical plates 2121.

running from end to end parallel to side walls 18-18.

Between these vertical plates 21 are positioned vertical plates 22-'22 parallel to end walls 19-19. These plates 21'21 and 22-22 form a series of rectangular cells 24- 24, open at top and bottom and extending down into a reservoir 17, but stopping short of bottom 20of-this reservoir. Each stay wire 4 passes over a cell 24 of reservoir diameter of ring 26 is slightly less than thelength of cell 24, and the distance between side walls 2222 of cell 24 is considerably smaller than the diameter of ring 26 so that ring 26 hangs in a plane inclined at a small angle to that of stay wire strand 4. I prefer that this angle be on the order of 5. Ring 26 is not otherwise confined by cell 24 but can move vertically in this cell and can rotate about its axis freely.

Within cell 24 is a cylindrical counterweight 27 having an axial dimension slightly less than the distance between side walls 22.-22 of cell 24. The diameter of counterweight 27 is materially greater than its axial dimension, although less than the length of a side wall 22 of cell 24. counterweight 27 is provided with a circumferential groove groove 28 and is positioned within cell 24 so that it rides on and is supported by ring 26, this ring fitting within groove 28 above mentioned. counterweight 27 is free to move vertically within cell 24except as supported and restrained by ring 26 and can also move parallel to side wall 22 subject to this same restraint. counterweight 27 can rotate freely about its axis and will rotate in this manner of ring 26 is rotated about its axis. The dimensions of counterweight 27 relative to cell 24 are such that it cannot turn crosswise in cell 24, nor is there suflicient clearance between the axial dimension of counterweight 27 and either side wall 22 to permit ring 26 to pass between counterweight 27 and side wall 22.

The operation of my apparatus will now be described with reference to the preferred embodiment illustrated in the attached figures and described in the foregoing paragraphs. Reservoir 17 is filled with oil to a level above the immersed in oil.

counterweight 27. Thus,.a portion of ring 26 is always When stay wire 4 is at rest, ring 26 hangs therefrom within cell 24 supporting counterweight 27; i When stay wire 4 is fed into loom 1, it is pulled from a slack to a taut position between pulleys 13 and 15 and is atthe same time moved lengthwise of cell 24.

This feeding movement thus raises strand 4 at the same time itfmoves it axially and so raises ring 26 also. In theabs ence "of counterweight 27, ring 26 would be jerked upwardly by the sudden tautening of wire strand 4, losing contact with stay wire strand 4 and also being lifted above sion is inch. Circumferential groove 28, which is semi-circular in cross section, has a radius of 2 inch.

One type of field fence with which I am familiar has top and bottom line wires, known as selvage wires, of

#11 AWG steel wire. The remaining wires and all stay wires are of #l4 /2 AWG'steel wire. Another type has I claim: 1. Apparatus for applying a film of oil to a strand of wire moving in an axial direction comprising an oil resthe level of the oil in reservoir 17. Ring 26 would, of

course, fallfback upon stay wire 4, but the latter would theiihave come to rest. havebeen caused to rotate about its axis any substantial amount by the movement of strand 4. With counterweight 27in place, however, ring 26, although raised by the tautening of wire 4, is not jerked above wire '4 any substantial amount nor out of contact with the'oil in reservoir 17. Instead, it maintains contact with wire 4 as the latter is advanced toward loom 1 and so is rotated through an arc during this axial movement of wire 4. This rotation of ring 26 brings up oil from reservoir 17 and discharges it on the surface of wire strand 4.

In the absence of plates 2222, ring 26 would tend to position itself crosswise of wire strand 4 and so would been mentioned, plates 2222 keep ring 26 inclined at a small angle to wire, 4, and plates 21--21 allow ring 26 to rotate but prevent it from moving along with the stay wire strand 4. 1

Thefsize of the various elements of my apparatus is largelya matter of choice as long as the previously mentioned relationships between, the various elements are preserved. In one installation with which I am familiar the oilerrings 26 are made of #13 AWG round steel wire to a diameter of 3% inches. Each cell 24 is 4 inches long inside and inch wide. Counterweight'27 is made of steel 1% inches in diameter and its axial dimen- Thereforqring 26 would not ervoir, means defining a path of travel of said strand over said oil reservoir, a ring enclosing said path and supported in said oil reservoir by said strand of wire when occupying said path, a pair of vertical plates positioned in said oil reservoir parallel to a plane through said path of travel and confining said ring, and a cylindrical weight "having a circumferential annular groove positioned to vertical plates positioned in said oil reservoir parallel to a vertical plane through said path of travel, a second pair of vertical plates spaced apart a distance only slightly greater than the diameter of said ring and forming with said first pair of plates a four-sided box enclosing said ring, and a cylindrical weight having a circumferential groove positioned to ride on said ring within said box, the axial dimension of said weight being slightly less than the distance between the first pair of vertical plates and the diameter of said weight being less than the distance 7 between the second pair of vertical plates.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Schweiter July 1, 1924 Van Duyn May 2, 1933 Attest:

KARL H. AXLINE ROBERT c. WATSON Attesting Ofiicer UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORREC Patent No, 2,840,036 June 24, 1958 1 George Wynn It is hereby certified that error appears in the-printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters! Patent should read as corrected below. i

\ Column 2, line 55, strike out grooveK', first occurrence, line 62, forv of ring read if ring column 3, line 42, for "1 5/6 inches" read z l1 5/8 inches column 4, line 5, for "remaining Wires" read remain= ing line Wires Signed and sealed this 26th day of August 1958.,

(SEAL) Commissioner of Patents 

